Unleashing ideas. Strengthening startups.

Önemsiyoruz

Abstract

Önemsiyoruz (We Care) is a volunteer-led design initiative, founded in Istanbul, Turkey. Its aim is to design games and toys with the support of sociologists, psychologists, pedagogues and teachers for from new born to 6 year old children who grow up in vulnerable circumstances.

We believe any child deserve to “play” regardless their conditions.

Our products offer an opportunity to develop a child’s potential, creativity and productivity. We recommend parents to have a play kit and educational contents for the children’s development.

Video

Additional Questions

Who is your customer?

Our customers are individuals and institutions that engages with 0-6 year old children. Parents, volunteers, teachers, pedagogues, NGOs, kindergartens, State Institutions, Municipalities, corporate companies are all potential customers to create the resources for equal opportunity for beneficiaries.

What problem does this idea/product solve or what market need does it serve?

The play kit is a multipurpose solution that engages the child’s emotions and includes images of cards and puppets on the one side, and a cover/carpet with colors and numbers on the other side. The play kit is portable and may be utilized in varying environments in order to expand the creativity and productivity of the child. It provides content that allows parents to transfer information to the child and helps to strengthen the parent-child bond. The cover/carpet includes images from nature, animals, and numbers to stimulate a child’s learning; it supports story-telling with a puppet set and a deck of illustrated play cards which portray basic human emotions and which further helps to improve parent-child interactions.
The multifunctional play kit is designed to meet the changing needs of a child from infancy through early childhood. While it may be used as a cover for diaper changing, it also comes with a ruler on it to measure the height of the child. As the child discovers and expresses his/her emotions, which serves as a means to interact with their environment, this self-created zone will support his/her perception of himself/herself as an individual. When it is not being used as a play kit, it may be converted into a soft basket to be used for storage.
The play kit is designed according to mother and expert insights to meet the basic needs of the child and covering the solutions for invisible needs.

What attributes will make this idea/product successful? Why do you believe that those features will create success?

Our team is consist of individuals each of them has a part in the creation of our play kit. After design stage, some members of our team is working on optimization the production process. Our experts working on creating contents for sustainable relations with the children.
Our team is signed for: “Any child deserve to play regardless their conditions. To commit to give this right to them, we are the individuals responsible as caring people.”

Explain how you (your team) will execute to make this idea/product successful? What gives you (your team) an advantage over others already in the market or new to this market?

There are board games or playing mats in the toys market, each of them are designed for a limited age groups and engages with the child for limited periods. This all in one play kit,
also differentiating from other play carpets or board games with its convertibility to a storage box. The colorful and stylised graphic design of the product creates attention and desire on the product kit.

Team Leader

Gozde Sekercioglu

Anadolu University

Following her graduation from ID Dept. of Anadolu University, she completed programs in product design & design management at Domus Academy, Central St.Martins and Bilgi University. She worked at Kilit Tasi Design and Nurus Inc. She created design-focused content for periodical publications such as Tasarım Gazetesi and ALLDECOR. She managed design content editorship for Architectureoflife.net design portal and managed the editorship for Art-ı Mekan Magazine. The social initiative Önemsiyoruz was founded by her in order to explore the possibilities at the intersection of innovative design & philanthropy to improve common products in cooperation with designers and 20+ individual volunteer team members by questioning the concept of games and play for all children who have limited access to education and a nurturing social life. She believes that each child must be acknowledged and respected as an individual with dignity regardless of their social status.